AI bots are now conducting job interviews. I tried it

Quick Overview

The author tried three AI job interview tools—The Verge's AI interview, CodeSignal's AI Interviewer using an avatar, and Eightfold AI's AI Interviewer—and found the experience unsettling due to the AI avatars appearing too human-like and the inherent "black box" nature of how the algorithms score candidates, leading to concerns about bias and transparency despite company assurances.

Key Points: The author interviewed with The Verge's AI interviewer, which used a realistic avatar, describing the experience as just as unsettling as expected due to the AI's presence. The author also tested CodeSignal's AI Interviewer, which used a static photo of an AI avatar named Meredith, finding the process slightly less distracting than the realistic video avatars. Eightfold AI's software felt the most robotic, though it scored high on technical aspects like systems thinking (9.9/10) and risk assessment (9.8/10) for a sample candidate. The video highlights that companies like Eightfold claim to conduct regular bias audits and only use data applicants choose to submit, denying they scrape social media. A key concern raised is the 'black box' problem, where it is unclear how AI algorithms evaluate and rank candidates, referencing a lawsuit against Eightfold for secretly scoring job seekers. The author concludes that AI interviews are already a tough process, and the lack of transparency makes it feel even more artificial than speaking to a human. Experts stated that all three companies claimed to conduct bias audits and that their systems are designed to be consistent, though they could not detail how the algorithms work internally.

Context: This video explores the emerging trend of Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used to conduct job interviews, a development that is becoming increasingly common in the job search process across major tech companies like Meta and Google. The host, Hayden Field (Senior AI Reporter for The Verge), tests several AI interviewing platforms to assess their functionality, user experience, and potential for inherent bias, contrasting the experiences with traditional human interviews.